Uprooting implement



March 4, 1941. c. P. BOHLAND ETAL UPROOTING IMPLEMENT Filed May 2, 1940Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATE s PATENT OFFICE Application May 2,1940, Serial No. 332,959

6 Claims. (01. 294-505) Our invention relates to an implement designatedgenerally as a weeder but more specifically is a device for uprootingand removing weeds such as dandelions and the like which have a mainroot usually extending directly down from the'ground surface.

The main object is to provide a simple, inexpensive and highly efficientdevice of the class specified and in the use of which the operator neednot at any time stoop over or reach down in any way for efficientlyoperating the device.

The invention consists, in general, of a novel arrangement constructionand combination of parts, as hereinafter fully set forth, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, in

which;-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our invention, showing the lower ends ofthe device inserted in the ground in operative position about to extracta weed.

Fig. 2 is a right side view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged left side View of approximately the lower half ofFig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section as on line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an approximately full size sectional detail as on line 5-5 inFig. 1.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals like charactersdesignating corresponding parts in the several views, our deviceresembles in general a large T-shaped walking stick of which thehorizontal handle is of course the upper end part and the vertical partdepending therefrom is integral with the handle.

Said handle or handhold comprises an inverted U-shape member 6preferably made of light A" channel iron, with a rear downwardlydirected arm, 6A extending thence forwardly horizontally about 8 inchesas 613 thence bent downwardly as at 6C and thence back toward the reararm about as 6D thence down vertically about 32 or 33 inches as 6E allin a common vertical plane the flanges directed inwardly, or in otherwords the web part of the channel exposed exteriorly throughout. Thelower extremity of the upright part for a distance of about 4 inches istapered rearwardly or in other words of chisel like shape as at SF.

I is another upright member'of like channel material in parallelism withand normally spaced from member 6E about said member also of chisel liketerminus at its lower end as at 1F extending upwardly as described, toabout the level of shoulder 6D at which height it is bent toward andconnected to the upper part of said shoulder as at 1A by welding orriveting (not shown). See Fig. 1. The two parallel main parts of thedevice forming a stock thus consist of two spaced apart channel ironswith their web parts out or rather their flanged parts extending towardeach other.

Just over. the lower tapered ends (comprising a pair of jaws) asdescribed, or about 7 -8" from their lower extremities, the two membersare pivotally connected on pivots Sin overlapped' parts of two sheetmetal U-shaped members 9 each secured as at ID with its face part ontothe exterior face of the web of members 6E and I.

This joint at 8 and the fixed connection of the channels at their upperparts (on under side of the handle) hold the two vertical channelmembers normally in spaced parallel relation.

Intermediate the ends of the upright, dual stock, (over pivot connectionat 8) the bars are further connected by a toggle joint or downwardlydirected V-joint, comprising preferably two pairs of links HR and ML ofwhich the outer ends of the right hand links HR. are pivoted on a pin12R in a U-bracket 13R fixed on the inner face of the web of the uprightchannel 6E, while the corresponding ends of the links I IL are pivotedon a pin 12L in a U-bracket I3L fixed on the inner face of channel 1.The lower and inner ends of all four of the links are pivoted on a pin14 to which is also pivotally connected the lower end part I5A of a.manipulating rod 15 which will presently be described, said rodextending upwardly between the channel members and into the handleportion of the device, as follows: 7

The upper part of rod l5 extends through the web of the upper extremityof channel I and is pivotally secured as at IE to a finger lever ortrigger l1 within the hand hold and which lever is pivotally connectedat l8 toa bracket I 9 fixed at the inner side of part 60 of the handhold. The longer part of said finger lever extends rearwardly from pivotl6 toward the rear part of the handle in a downwardly inclined plane.

Obviously when an operator asps the handle 6 and lever l1 and exerts asqueezing action, lever l1 moves upwardly exerting a powerful pull onrod l5 which in turn opens or straightens the toggles describedspreading the parallel bars BE and 1 intermediate their ends.

Simultaneously the jaw members below pivot 8 are closed with a powerfulaction to clamp between them, roots of weeds such as dandelions (Fig.1).

The tapered lower (jaws) ends are normally in spaced parallel relationas long as the main parallel lengths of the bars 6E and I are retainedparallel to each other.

Now it will be readily understood that the lower pronged ends or jawsare pushed into the ground to straddle the root of a weed, while saidprongs are in parallelism. Then the rod [5 is pulled upward to close thejaws on the said root, as above described, and while in root-pinchingcondition the device is pulled upwardly to extract the weed by its root.After getting the weed out of the ground the operator continues to gripthe handle and lever until it is desired to release the Weed in acontainer or on a pile, by simply releasing the squeezing grip when thenatural spring action in the bars 6E and I tending to go back to normalparallel relation, opens the jaws or prongs below pivot 8 and releasesthe weed.

For the purpose of forcibly expelling any weeds and roots which maystick between the prongs we provide an expelling device as follows:

21 is a cross head or plunger reciprocally .retained in and between theflanged parts of the opposite channels 6E and I and normally positionedat or just below pivot 8. 22 is a rod fixed in said cross head andextending upwardly between the channels and having its upper end securedas at 23 to the lower end part of a sheet metal sleeve 24 inclosing thetwo channels 6E and 1 just below the hand hold.

Thus when a weed root is stuck between the prongs or jaw members, evenafter the lever I! has been released, the operator merely grasps themetal sleeve 24 and pushes downwardly causing the cross-head to movetoward the open ends of the prongs and forcibly expel a root or anyother obstacle between the prongs. I

25 is a foot presser member comprising a triangular plate pivotallymounted as at 26 on either of the upright channels and over the pivotalconnection 9 of the latter. This plate is provided with integral tongues25T located to engage the front and rear flanges of the channelsimultaneously, when the upper edge of the member is positioned at right"angles to the channels, but permit swinging of the member up to andalongside of the channel in 'a least obstructive position when not inuse.

The operator merely pressed down on the extended lever, with his foot,to push the prongs into the ground when the latter is hard or dry.

In the broken out portion of the sleeve 2a (in Fig. 1) is shown atension coil spring 27, one end of which is connected to the upper partof either channel bar 6E or 1 and the other end to the lower end part ofthe sleeve, preferably on the pin '23. This spring retrieves or drawsthe expelling device back to its upper normal position after it has beenused to expel a root, etc.

It will be noted that in our simple construction the parallel channelsare simply sprung apart to forcibly and very efi'fiectively close, thejaws 6F1F on. roots to be extracted, said jaws and channels normallyspringing back to their original parallel positions when the operatorsgrip on the handle and lever is eased. In other words the normaltendency of the parallel bars to return to parallel relation is utilizedto open the jaws and release roots and other objects grasped by them. V

In modified forms of the device it may be used for pulling vegetables,for transplanting small plants, removing obstacles from pipes etc.

In Fig. 2, 28 designates a pair of vertically alined apertures,preferably oval shaped, in the web of both jaw members near their lowerends. In Fig. 4 the inside surface of both jaw members is showncorrugated or roughened at 29. The

said apertures and roughening increase considerably .the friction holdon roots. For example when such jaws are clamped on a root, parts of itare squeezed into the apertures and thus afford greater resistance toslippage.

Modifications in structural detail may be em bodied without departingfrom the scope and spirit of our invention. The handle 6 may be arectangular frame to the under side of which the upper ends of the stockmembers 6E and 1 are afiixed in any suitablemanner,

We claim:

1. In an uprooting device of the class described, a horizontallydisposed hand-hold, a main stock extending downwardly from the underside of said hand hold integrally and comprising a pair bars above thesaid pivot and simultaneously close the said jaws. j

2. The structure specified -in claim '1, and a plunger memberreciprocally retained between said jaw members a sleeve member slidablymounted and inclosing the upper part of said stock a plunger rodconnecting said sleeve and the plunger, to manipulate the plungerlongitudinally of and between the .jaws for the purpose set forth.

3. In an uprootingdev-ice of the class described, a horizontallydisposed hand hold, a main stock extend-ing downwardly from the underside of said hand hold integrally and comprising a pair of bars normallyin parallelism, the lower extremities of said bars tapered andcomprising a pair of spaced apart jaws, pivot means above said jawpar-ts connecting the two bars, a toggle between-said pair of bars andalso-connecting the two bar intermediate the said pivot connection andthe handle, trigger means within the handle and an operative connectionbetween said trigger means and the toggle to forcibly spread the barsabove the said pivot and simultaneously close the said jaws, saidtrigger means consisting of a lever within the handle a-nd pivotallyconnected to the front end part of the handle, and -a rod extending"downwardly from said trigger lever, between the bars of the stock andconnected at its lower end to the toggle, as shown and described.

ends and the said {pivot ineans. cf the parallel bars and comprisingii-arrangement and connected at their outer ends to the adjacent innerfaces of the parallel is, a lever within the handle omprising"ajtrigger, a rod connecting said trigger lever and the toggle links tospread the toggle and correspondingly spreading the bars tosimultaneously close the jaw members when the trigger member is graspedwith the handle, the bar members subsequently assuming normal parallelrelation and opening the jaws when the trigger is released.

5. The structure specified in claim 4, and a foot pressure bracketpivotally mounted on one of said parallel bars, over the jaws, andcomprising a 10 metal plate with stop lug on its edge parts to retainthe bracket with an upwardly exposed edge at right angles to the stock.

6. The structure specified in claim 4, in which said jaw members areprovided each with a number of apertures adjacent its lower end, and theinner faces of said jaw members being roughened,

to facilitate holding and clamping action of the,

